Foods containing fat and greases release the grease in a liquid form during cooking, and a number of devices have been proposed for facilitating the cooking of such foods, such as bacon strips, such apparatus being typified by that shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,019,721; 3,407,723; 4,064,797; 4,112,833; 4,121,510 and 4,214,515.
Cooking apparatus such as shown in the above identified patents often includes grills and supports for positioning and retaining the food during cooking, and such retainers aid in controlling meat shrinkage and shaping during cooking. As the grease is released such known devices utilize means for trapping or catching the falling grease. While many of the devices shown in the aforementioned patents are intended for conventional convection cooking, it is known to use microwave energy with such devices as typified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,112,833 and 4,121,510.
Known cooking apparatus of the aforementioned type is relatively complicated in nature, expensive to manufacture, bulky, inconvenient to use, and difficult to clean. Accordingly, such devices have not experienced widespread acceptance.
While cooking with microwave energy has a number of advantages such as reduced cooking time, uniformity of heating, and the like, difficulty is encountered in the microwave heating of bacon, for instance, due to the release of the grease during heating and it is common to surround microwaved bacon with absorbant material, such as paper, to remove the grease from the food as it heats.
Heretofore, apparatus particularly suitable for cooking bacon with microwave energy has not received widespread acceptance, and it is an object of the invention to provide a microwave cooking system utilizing apparatus transparent to microwave energy which is of an economical nature to manufacture, easy to use by inexperienced users, easy to clean and which removes the grease from proximity with the food during cooking.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system for the microwave cooking of food releasing grease during heating wherein the grease removed in the form of a liquid is effectively caught and retained remote from the cooked food.
A further object of the invention is to provide a microwave cooking system for fatty foods wherein a pair of relatively movable grills are employed to confine and retain the food during cooking, and wherein a receptacle located below the grills receives released grease and fats.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a packaging system for the packaging and handling of fatty foods wherein the foods may be cooked directly in the package and the foods are supported and retained in an acceptable manner for cooking and the package includes a receptacle for receiving the released grease.
In the practice of the invention the food to be cooked, such as bacon strips, is located between a pair of grills defined by a frame having parallel food-supporting elements mounted thereon. The elements in the grills are angularly related to each other wherein the food will be adequately supported therebetween, and the bacon strips are laid transversely to the length of the elements.
The grills are preferably pivoted with respect to each other by hinge structure associated with a side of each frame, and handles are located upon the other frame side to facilitate opening and closing of the grills so that food may be placed therebetween and removed therefrom.
A receptacle in the form of a shallow pan having an open top is located directly below the lower grill, and may interconnect or intermesh with the lower grill, or could be homogeneously defined therewith. The receptacle receives the liquid grease released by the food during cooking which falls through the lower grill.
The material of the grills and receptacle is transparent to microwave energy, and may be formed of a synthetic plastic, glass, paper or the like.
It is within the scope of the invention that the apparatus be formed of a disposable material, such as paper, wherein one time use is economically feasible, and cleaning of the apparatus is not required.
The concepts of the invention may also be used with a package designed for packaging foods releasing grease and fats during cooking. In such instance the package will consist of a pair of grills having the food to be cooked located therebetween, and an open receptacle is defined below the lower grill. The entire apparatus, including grills and receptacle, are encased within an envelope, preferably formed of a synthetic plastic film, which may be shrunk, shaped, extruded, or otherwise formed to closely confine the grill, food and receptacle, and, of course, the grills, receptacle and the material of the envelope must be transparent to microwave energy.
Upon placing the package within the microwave oven, and piercing a few venting holes therein, the packaged food may be directly cooked within its envelope wherein the grease will fall into the receptacle, and the food completely cooked prior to being removed from its package.